First-Ever Global Effort to Ensure Haj Pilgrims Benefits from Technology For Time Efficiency and Ease of Movement
SEPANG-Malaysia Airports, the Immigration Department of Malaysia, Lembaga Tabung Haji and the Saudi Arabian Immigration Authorities have collaborated to ease the movement and immigration processes for Malaysian Haj pilgrims through the utilisation of automated identification and rapid data capture and relay technologies for immigration clearance at both ends, enabling them to reach Mekah and Madinah bypassing the time delays and administrational challenges faced previously. To commemorate the collaboration, a special send-off ceremony for the pilgrims was held earlier this morning at the KL International Airport (IATA Code: KUL).
According to the Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Airports, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin, “As a caring host, Malaysia Airports is always striving to improve the passenger journey through enhanced services by partnering with strategic stakeholders who hold the same common objective in providing a joyful experience. We are proud to be part of this pre-clearance initiative for haj pilgrims at KLIA main terminal which will eliminate the long clearance waiting time when they reach Mekah. We understand that the process can be tiring especially for the elderly, and thus, it is with pleasure that we take on the role to help simplify the experience making it smooth and seamless. With the roll-out of this new initiative, we are also working on providing the same pre-clearance experience for the Umrah pilgrims soon once we receive the green-light from the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
The Director General of the Immigration Department of Malaysia (JIM), Dato’ Indera Khairul Dzaimee Daud said, “In 2019, for the first time, JIM is providing two autogates for Malaysian pilgrims check out exit. The facial recognition technology autogates will help to speed up immigration checks that take less than 10 seconds for each pilgrim. In addition, we are also providing four manual counters to ease immigration processes. I would like to thank Malaysia Airports, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Lembaga Tabung Haji and Datasonic for forging a close alliance with the Immigration Department of Malaysia since last year on the implementation of this pre-clearance initiative at KLIA Main Terminal for Malaysian Haj Pilgrims.”
The Executive Deputy Chairman of Dagang NeXchange Berhad (“DNeX”) and also Executive Chairman of Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd, Datuk Samsul Husin said, “We are honoured to be given the opportunity by Al-Elm Information Security Company to implement site facilitation and communications connectivity for the Mekah Route initiative in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta this year. Working on the implementation of the project will certainly help DNeX expand our expertise and portfolio of services. The project is certainly a strategic one for us as it is part of the Mekah Route initiative, which involves a multi-agency collaboration among Malaysia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. At the same time, the project will enable us to contribute in a noble initiative of putting in improvements to Hajj pilgrimage thus reducing hardship and challenges faced by pilgrims in their spiritual journey”.
The Chairman of Datasonic Group Berhad, Tan Sri Dato' Seri (Dr.) Mohamed Hashim bin Mohd Ali commented, "With the grace of The Almighty, we are now blessed again to look forward to the month of Dzulhujjah for 1440 Hijriyah, in which pilgrims from all over the world will be heading to Mekah to perform the Haj. We are thankful that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have provided this great opportunity for Malaysia through the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Immigration Department of Malaysia, Lembaga Tabung Haji and Malaysia Airports to collaboratively complement Saudi Arabian immigration authorities with innovative solutions for pre-clearance of Haj pilgrims here in Malaysia. This collaborative effort between the Saudi and Malaysian authorities is aimed at, amongst others, expediting pilgrims’ immigration clearance. To complement this effort further, the Immigration Department of Malaysia, has given us the opportunity to install our proven Datasonic eGates, which enables rapid passenger clearance time without compromising authentication of user, data analysis and pertinent reporting backed by essential data points necessary to confirm potential needs and trend of traffic flow. To date, we have already installed 20 eGates in KLIA, and have received very positive feedback from Malaysian travellers. The facial recognition technology is proven and have been widely-used for border control and financial transactions.”
“The ultimate goal is to ensure time-efficient self-service automatic border control system, fueled by innovation, driven towards excellence and to achieve distinction in easing the journey ahead for our Malaysian pilgrims,” Mohammed Hashim further added.
For the 2019 / 1440Hijrah Haj Pilgrimage season, the Malaysian – Saudi Arabian collaboration will be handling almost 30,000 passengers going to and from Mekah and Madinah. With the technology introduced into the collaborative effort, pilgrim waiting time at the destinations to and fro is expected to be reduced significantly by 60%, whilst data transmission remains secured and seamless.